Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Alcohol Treatment After Getting Blasted, Enzo A. Ferrara, Roshni R. Patel, Julienne B. Ryland, Diana Peterson

Research Day

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be caused by exposure to blast pressure waves (i.e., bombs). Individuals in contact with blast pressure waves have been shown to experience various mental and physical symptoms, including tinnitus and depression. Blast-related damage causes micro-tears in the central nervous system that is caused by shearing, stretching, and rotational forces on neurons. This type of damage is too small to see in conventional imaging such as MRI or CT scans. Secondary damage can occur days or weeks after the blast-exposure. We hypothesize that this secondary damage is caused by hyper-excitation leading to excitotoxicity and cell …

Determining The Concentration Of Ethanol Needed For Motor Impairment In Smn2 Mice, Roshni R. Patel, Julienne B. Ryland, Enzo A. Ferrera, Diana Peterson

Research Day

Introduction: While the effects of ethanol on humans are well known, its influence on SMN2 mice, specifically on motor movement and coordination, have not been established.

Objectives: The primary objectives are to determine how varying levels of ethanol consumption alters: 1) the motor ability of SMN2 mice, 2) the time window of coordination impairment, and 3) how ethanol influences free-field behavior.

Methods: Motor impairment in SMN2 mice were measured with a RotoRod test (to test for coordination), and a free-field test (to monitor free movement and behavior). For each test, groups of animals were orally gavaged different concentrations of ethanol …

Maackia Amurensis Seed Lectin (Masl) Increases Movement Velocity Of Mice With Tnfα Induced Rheumatoid Arthritis, Amanda A. Greenspan, Kelly L. Hamilton, Alan J. Shienbaum, Bradford Fischer, Andrea Bottaro, Gary S. Goldberg

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Up to 70 million people around the world suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. Current treatment options have varied efficacy and can cause unwanted side effects. New approaches are needed to treat this condition. Sialic acid modifications on chondrocyte receptors have been associated with arthritic inflammation and joint destruction. The transmembrane mucin receptor protein podoplanin (PDPN) has been identified as a functionally relevant receptor that presents extracellular sialic acid motifs. PDPN signaling promotes inflammation and invasion associated with arthritis and, therefore, has emerged as a target that can be used to inhibit arthritic inflammation. Maackia amurensis seed lectin (MASL) can target PDPN …

The Dopamine D3 Receptor Antagonist Vk4-40 Attenuates Morphine-Induced Hyperactivity But Not Cocaine-Induced Hyperactivity In Mice, Desta M. Pulley, Jessica J. Debski, Daniel Manvich

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

In light of the increasing rates of opioid abuse in the US, the search for viable medications to treat opioid abuse disorder (OUD) has become ever more urgent. Opioids exert their abuse-related effects in part by indirectly increasing dopamine (DA) neurotransmission in the mesolimbic system, a dopaminergic projection arising in the ventral tegmental area and terminating in the nucleus accumbens. The DA D3 receptor (D3R), which belongs to the D2 family of dopamine receptors (D2, D3 , D4 receptor subtypes), is highly expressed in these brain regions and has shown strong potential as a pharmacotherapeutic target for the treatment of …

Novel Technology Enables Diagnostic Ultrasound Machine To Treat Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Mice, Ryan Morrison, Mrigendra B. Karmacharya, Chandra M. Sehgal

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

An off-the-shelf diagnostic transducer (ULTRASONIX C5-2) was modified with custom-built circuitry to enable the transducer to produce therapeutic ultrasound in order to ablate hepatocellular carcinomas grown in immunodeficient athymic nude mice (25-35 g; Charles River Laboratories, Wilmington, MA, USA). The therapeutic antivascular ultrasound (AVUS) produced by the off-the-shelf abdominal transducer was unfocused, continuous 2.8MHz ultrasound targeting contrast-enhancing perflutren lipid microbubbles within tumor vasculature. Previous research with a dedicated physiotherapy ultrasound machine (D150 Plus, Dynatronics Corp., Salt Lake City, UT, USA) targeting similar hepatocellular carcinomas showed disrupted tumor neovasculature and irreparable dilation of tumor capillaries with subsequent intercellular edema and hemorrhage.1-3 …

Imp2 Expression In The Mouse Nervous System, Sarah E. Chmielewski, Paige E. Black, Tiffany M. Holmes, Kelly S. Lau, Gary J. Bassell

Research Day

Background: Insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) mRNA-binding protein-2 (IMP2) is one of the three homologs (IMP1-3) that play important roles in the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression in several tissues. IMP1/ZBP1 (zipcode binding protein) has been shown to play important roles in axon guidance and regeneration by regulating the localization and translation of specific mRNAs. However, the function of IMP2 is least understood, largely because an isoform-specific antibody is not available, which makes the conventional techniques to locate protein expression not feasible.